Kirkpatrick: Lundy to retire from position with WCC By Parker T. Williamson The Presbyterian Layman Monday, December 7, 1998 Mary Ann Lundy HARARE, Zimbabwe - Mary Ann Lundy will retire from her position as deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches shortly after the WCC Assembly adjourns here in Harare. The December 5 announcement was made, not by Lundy, but by Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), during a dinner for 130 Presbyterians who are attending the WCC event. Kirkpatrick expressed his delight at the large representation of Presbyterians at the WCC Assembly, calling it "a demonstration of our commitment to ecumenism." Not all Presbyterians here are voting delegates. Several, many of whom are Presbyterian Church (USA) staff members, are titled "co-opted WCC staff," individuals loaned to the WCC, and named as WCC staff members for the duration of the Assembly. Others are labeled "Observers" and "Advisors," titles that the WCC gives to persons assumed to have a particular expertise or association that WCC officials deem useful to their Assembly proceedings. Another group of representatives is known as "Accredited Press." This category includes staff persons of various news groups, like the Presbyterian News Service and The Presbyterian Layman. It is another niche in which PCUSA staff persons have gained official status at the Assembly by finding a cooperative periodical to designate them as reporters. Theodore Gill, who has served as denominational staff in ecumenical concerns like the Consultation on Church Union (COCU), came with reporter credentials from The Presbyterian Outlook. The WCC also has a category called "Visitors" that allows persons to attend all Assembly sessions, hearings and "Padares," informal seminars on selected topics. Clifton Kirkpatrick Who represents the Presbyterian Church (USA)? Large in number, Presbyterians at this Assembly are heavily slanted in favor of those who do not represent the beliefs and values of the Presbyterian Church (USA) membership. Abundantly represented in the December 5 gathering were staff and elected leaders who have been most vocal in their support of liberation theology, a Marxist ideology expressed in theological language, and who have vigorously opposed the denomination's ordination standards relating to sexual behavior. Two events, the fall of the Soviet Union and the 2-1 declaration of Presbyterian Church (USA) presbyteries confirming their Constitution's ordination standards, have resulted in serious setbacks for these Presbyterian leaders in their own country. But here in Zimbabwe, where leaders from more than 100 churches around the world are gathered, the face of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is being represented by these individuals and the ideologies they espouse. Apologists for Marxism Included among those present are staff and elected leaders who supported the Marxist Ortega regime in Nicaragua until it was rejected by the Nicaraguan people in popular elections, channeled support to rebel forces in El Salvador in the name of "peace and justice," oppose the United States embargo against the Castro regime in Cuba, and demonstrated against the US military buildup that stopped Soviet expansionism during the 1960s and 1970s. ReImagining God Also present were representatives of the Women's Ministry Unit, Presbyterian Women, Horizons Magazine, and the National Network of Presbyterian College Women, many of whom attended and supported the 1993 ReImagining conference whose rejection of Scripture's teaching on the person and work of Jesus Christ was declared "beyond the boundaries" of Christian faith by the 1994 General Assembly. Based on the ideologies expressed by most Presbyterians who have gathered in Harare, world church leaders would have no idea where the Presbyterian Church (USA) stands on the issue of human sexuality. That was made clear during introductions at the December 5 dinner when a young woman representing the National Network of Presbyterian College Women stood to an enthusiastic and sustained applause. NNPCW is currently undergoing evaluation following discoveries that its resources and program encourage lesbian behavior on college campuses and promote theologians who deny God's transcendence and the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Those themes are highly visible here in Harare where celebrations of the WCC's Ecumenical Decade of Solidarity with Women, a sponsor of the 1993 ReImaging Conference, have been given center stage. Lundy declared 'PCUSA missionary' The ideological slant of this group was made even clearer when Clifton Kirkpatrick singled out Mary Ann Lundy for special recognition. Kirkpatrick prefaced his remarks by saying that the greatest ecumenical challenge in the Presbyterian Church today is found among its own members. He urged members of his audience to work harder at winning greater appreciation for the WCC throughout the denomination. He expressed his opinion that those Presbyterians who serve as staff members in ecumenical agencies like the World Council of Churches do not receive the appreciation that they are due. "They are really our staff," said Kirkpatrick. "They work for us. They are PCUSA missionaries in the ecumenical movement." Kirkpatrick said that no one fits that description more aptly than Mary Ann Lundy who, he said, "will retire soon from her position with the World Council." He said that he believed he was speaking for many Presbyterians when he expressed to his good friend profound gratitude for her service to the denomination and the worldwide church. Kirkpatrick's words signaled a standing ovation. Mary Ann Lundy taking part in the “milk and honey” ritual held at the 1993 ReImagining Conference Being 'fired up' Lundy, who held several high-ranking staff positions in the James Brown administration of the General Assembly Council, was a key leader in the 1993 ReImagining Conference. Her efforts resulted in channeling a $66,000 Bicentennial Fund grant into the event. When the content of the conference became known, denominationwide outrage resulted in massive financial losses to the national church budget and Lundy's firing on the eve of the 1994 General Assembly, when it was clear that many congregations were ready to leave the denomination. Shortly after she was fired, Lundy was named deputy general secretary of the World Council of Churches. At the "ReImagining Revival" in 1997, Lundy quipped that she had been "fired up." During her years at the World Council office in Geneva, Lundy has promoted a broadened definition of ecumenism that includes organizations and movements that do not affirm Jesus Christ as Lord.

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